Little Talks
by katichresis
Summary: Songfic using lyrics from Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks. Reviews are greatly appreciated!


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fringe, the pretty Of Monsters and Men song or the lines I used from 5x1.

**A/N:** Hey there. Another fic! This time, it's a songfic using the lyrics from Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men. It's kinda messy and I apologize for that. R&R please? I need to know if my writing sucks and if should stop posting, lol. Thank you, guys! :)

**Little Talks**

_I don't like walking around this old and empty house._

_So hold my hand, I'll walk with you my dear_

They stepped into the house they lived in together about twenty years ago. Everything was covered in layers of dust and spiders had been obvious tenants. It was their house, but it didn't have the same homely feel it once possessed. The house itself was still filled with their belongings, and also, all their memories together as a complete, happy family. These memories of a better time seemed to consume the house into emptiness.

"It feels so cold, Peter. So different…like nothing good ever happened here." Olivia whispered.

Peter was standing right beside her and he reached out to hold her hand. He twined their fingers together and he gripped her hand firmly.

"It's alright, I'm right here with you." He said to her, comfortingly.

_The stairs creak as I sleep, _

_it's keeping me awake_

_It's the house telling you to close your eyes_

Peter, Olivia, Walter, Etta and Astrid had decided to take shelter in the house that Etta grew up in. Peter and Olivia's old house could accommodate them all well enough to rest, recuperate and get back to figuring out a way to defeat the Observers.

After dinner, everyone headed back to their own makeshift sleeping quarters to get some rest. Night had fallen and it was unusually quiet outside. It was no longer filled with crickets singing to the moon, or owls hooting to one another. The world had, indeed, changed. The creaking from the steps of the old house told Olivia that Walter was walking around again. That hadn't changed, at least. The creaking from the stairs never bothered her before, but it did now. Perhaps, it was so oddly quiet that a slightest bit of noise prevented her from relaxing into a slumber she needed very much. So she was awake, thinking and reminiscing the days where laughter actually filled this house and hope for a normal life with her beloved family was within sight. That was all gone now.

"Liv, I can hear you thinking." Peter breathed and rolled onto his side to face Olivia. He pulled her into an embrace and whispered, "What's keeping you up?" He knew the answer but it was something that was too difficult for her to talk about it right now, especially when it still felt like a few months to her.

"Nothing, it's just Walter walking up and down the steps. That's all." She lied and he knew it.

"Well, it's an old house. Take it as it's telling you to close your eyes and go to sleep." Peter replied and kissed her forehead. They remained in each other's arms till Olivia fell asleep.

_Some days I can't even dress myself._

_It's killing me to see you this way._

It was Peter's turn to reflect upon what had happened in the past. He remembered how both he and Olivia had been so torn apart by losing Etta. When they were able to return home, back to this old house they were now staying in, he could never forget the look of pure anguish on Olivia's face when it hit her that they were probably never going to see their little girl again. The next few days were agonizing and it pained him to see the state Olivia was in but he couldn't do anything to help her get through it because he, himself, was in the exact same state. They were both in a place so dark, blinded by loss and grief.

_'Cause though the truth may vary_

_this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore._

He remembered how he had taken off almost two weeks later. He was going to continue his search for Etta and would not stop till he found her. Olivia had watched sadly, a look of abandonment in her eyes, as he left but focused her efforts into saving the world instead. She didn't give up on Etta and she hoped Peter knew that. They each had their own truths to be told but none of them had told them when they needed to be. Peter pushed those thoughts out of his mind, what matters now is that they had Etta back and he had Olivia back.

_There's an old voice in my head _

_that's holding me back_

_Well tell her that I miss our little talks._

Sunlight was peeking through the dusty curtains at the window in their room. She dreamt of her; her lovely, angelic voice as she learned to speak. She should get up but that dream was too sweet to let go off so quickly. Olivia missed everything about her little Etta, from the way she babbled and giggled to the way she screamed and kicked up a fuss. She remembered how Peter would have conversations with Etta and how Etta would just babble incoherently in reply to whatever Peter had said to her. She missed that but that's all she can do now. Time didn't stop and wait for her while she was sealed away in amber.

_Soon it will be over, and buried with our past_

_We used to play outside when we were young_

_and full of life and full of love._

With the Fringe team out of amber, the battle against the Observers seemed more hopeful. They used to feel safe and content out on the streets. The arrival of the Observers had changed all that. They could bring Etta out to play in the park nearby every day. There was neither fear nor any apprehension whatsoever in a sometimes spontaneous decision to go out and play. But now there was. Play isn't even a word they can use at a time like this.

_Some days I feel like I'm wrong when I am right._

_Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear._

As they began a new day trying to work out a plan to win the war, Olivia realized that she had begun to second-guess herself in this new world. It had become Etta's world; a world she was unfamiliar with, a world she had no part of. She didn't know whether she could even trust herself because she had been "away" for so long. She sometimes felt as though she didn't even know Etta. Was it really necessary to do the things her daughter did in order to survive? She wouldn't know the answer and that worried her.

_Don't listen to a word I say_

_The screams all sound the same._

_You're gone, gone, gone away, _

_I watched you disappear._

_All that's left is a ghost of you._

_Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, _

_there's nothing we can do,_

_Just let me go, we'll meet again soon._

Every now and then as Etta spoke, Olivia's thoughts wandered. She had watched her little girl disappear, right before her eyes. And now, in front of her, twenty years later, is a young blonde woman. When they lost her, Peter and Olivia couldn't keep it together and be the pillar of strength for each other. Instead, they were torn apart by Etta's disappearance. All their love had become invested on their child and when their child was taken away, their lives, at that point in time, had been taken away as well. She vividly remembered the day Peter left. He packed his clothes, bags, and walked out. The sadness in their eyes gave each other all the explanation they'd need. They knew they'd be reunited; it was only a matter of time. They went across universes and timelines for each other, and so they both knew they would do the same once again. It was an unspoken promise.

_Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around_

_I'll see you when I fall asleep._

While Peter was out searching for Etta, all he thought and dreamt of every night was Olivia and Etta. It seemed like the only way he would ever see them again: in his sleep. It was the same for Olivia, except she thought of the memory of the three of them together, just as the amber had begun to solidify around her. She was kept reminded and always thinking of them. And now she saw both of them, in their physical form. She thought of Peter's words, "It's like living this beautiful dream inside of a horrible nightmare." Oh, how true it had become.

_Though the truth may vary_

_this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore_


End file.
